


Worth It

by BlackHunter666, sevenholypathstohell



Category: REILLY Matthew - Works, Scarecrow Series - Matthew Reilly
Genre: Child Pregnancy, Gen, bounty hunters with hearts of gold, child brides
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-19
Updated: 2016-05-19
Packaged: 2018-06-09 09:55:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Underage
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,683
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6901171
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BlackHunter666/pseuds/BlackHunter666, https://archiveofourown.org/users/sevenholypathstohell/pseuds/sevenholypathstohell
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Our favorite Marines are called in to investigate reports of gunfire in a rural Afghan village at the height of Operation Enduring Freedom, and run into some very familiar faces...with questionable motives. They soon find themselves battling not a physical enemy, but their own world views and what it means to have humanity.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Worth It

Still not exactly sure who he’d pissed off to get this detail, Captain Shane Schofield sighed softly as he led his team towards a local village where there had been reports of gunfire the day before. His small team had been tapped to investigate, checking for Al Qaeda or any other problems. Shane could admit privately that it felt good to be back in an active combat zone, Parris Island was nice but this was where his team belonged.

Admittedly, being back in Afghanistan was a painful reminder of the woman no longer in his life and all they had suffered when Jonathan Killian tried to have him killed. Two years since her death and the sting, although greatly lessened, still existed and tormented him every night. But out here, with the dangers of being back on active service again, he simply couldn’t be distracted and he found it a little easier to sleep at nights.

Approaching the village, something became instantly apparent to Shane and his team. Something big had happened here the day previous. Lined up along the outer wall, fifteen Afghani men had been dragged out of the village and left to rot in the baking heat. The smell was already overpowering and it would only get worse.

Leaving the bodies for the moment, the small team entered the village to find another strange sight. Of all the people and all the places it could happen, this was the last place they were expecting to see a couple of familiar faces surrounded by a group of young local girls.

“Knight? What the fuck are you doing here?” Shane called, approaching the group slowly.

“Put the weapons down, Captain. You’re scaring the girls.” Aloysius replied, looking up from the youngsters huddling around him.

“Why are you here of all places?” Shane pushed, lowering his weapon warily.

“Because someone had to do something to end this horror.” Aloysius shrugged, crouching among the girls and speaking to them for a few moments. Smiling and laughing, the children took hands in pairs and small groups, running through the village and heading into one of the huts.

Straightening up, Aloysius smiled fondly after them as he brushed his hands off on the seat of his pants. Pulling his attention back to the Marine team, his smile faded as he walked towards them, looking completely different in his desert fatigues.

“I’m guessing you had something to do with the bodies outside.” Buck remarked, looking up at Aloysius warily.

“They had it coming.” Aloysius shrugged, folding his arms across his chest. “Every man left out there had at least one child bride, some had two or even three. The dear young girls you just saw out here are the brides, forced to bear children when they are far too young. Right now, our team is in another building here assisting a thirteen year-old girl to deliver her second child.”

“So you come out here, kill the men and abandon the girls to their fate.” Mother scoffed, hardly impressed with what Knight was doing.

“No, we come out here and free these girls. Later today, they will all be flown out of here and taken to a place where they will be safe for the rest of their lives. We take them to a place where they will be fed properly, receive the medical care they desperately need and will be granted the education they deserve. From there, they will go to loving families all over the world where they will never have to fear their families or be forced into marriage again.” Aloysius explained, turning to look as a young girl came running back to him.

Scooping her up, he settled her easily on his hip and lightly stroked her uncovered hair, battle calloused fingers toying with her bouncing black curls.

“I may be a hardened killer, a soldier and a paid gun but I do have a heart for the suffering in the world. This one we call Christine, she recognises it as her new name and new beginning.” Aloysius grinned, handing her a lollipop from his pocket.

“How could anyone want to hurt a child like her?” Buck asked, watching the beautiful little girl on Aloysius’ hip. “She’s beautiful.”

“She was sold because her eldest brother killed the brother of a powerful man in a neighbouring village. This little girl was given over to pay for the death.” Aloysius growled, soothing the young girl with a gentle hand.

Christine unwrapped the sugary treat and stuck it in her mouth, eyes widening as she processed this new taste. She squealed at the sweetness, and enthusiastically sucked on the lollipop. Something possessed Mother to approach her; she slung her rifle behind her back out of the girl’s view and knelt down.

“Christine” she forced a smile and pointed to herself, saying “Gena”.

“Gee-na” Christine replied, a playful yet innocent smirk crossing her face. She grabbed hold of Mother’s palm and pressed something metallic into it, before running off to play with the other children. Mother held the object up to the light, and recognized it as an expended casing from a Kalashnikov round.

“Christ on a  _ fucking _ bike.” She breathed.

“You can probably guess what those girls have been playing with all day.”  Aloysius waved a hand at the kids, who were variously chucking the casings at each other, imitating the actions of Knight’s raid the previous night.

“She’s not even six and she’s being sold into fucking slavery.” Mother hissed, seeing that none of the girls were within earshot.

“And the ones that aren’t old enough yet...” Book added “they’re being farmed. I feel sick.”

“I’m with you, Book. I really am.” Knight sighed.

“I never knew someone like you could be this philanthropic, not for the right price, anyway.”

“Mother...have you ever had the chance to hold a child in your hands? Your own child?”

Now Mother was caught completely off-guard by the soft, almost conciliatory tone in Knight’s voice, and considered backpedaling on her words.

“Well,” she paused “no.”

Knight stared off into the distant peaks, sad eyes obscured as always by his signature amber shades.

“Her name was Felicia. Susan had always liked that name, and it happened that was my grandmother’s middle name.”

“Who?” Book asked in genuine curiosity.

  
  


From within his pocket, Knight withdrew a silver heart-shaped amulet on a necklace, and rubbed his thumb on it. Laser-etched into its otherwise immaculate surface was ‘S’ on one side, and ‘F’ on the other.

“My daughter. She was the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen this side of Susan.”

Mother was speechless at the simple yet elegant craftsmanship, at how a piece of metal could mean so much to someone.

“They let me off for two weeks so I could deliver Felicia into the world, and she was only 5 days old when I had to return to Yemen. My tour wasn’t scheduled to end for another 3 months, and my CO was anal about granting paternal extensions.”

“Why?”

“Because he seemed to enjoy kissing our S1’s ass.” Knight grunted “Anyway, the order was final, and that would be the last I’d see of them.”

Knight closed his eyes, reliving the vision of that dreadful morning. The image of a tearstained Susan cradling a wailing Felicia in her arm on their front porch, would forever be iron-branded into his memory. 

“She would’ve grown up to be a beautiful, smart, and bubbly girl, like her mother. Whenever I bounced her on my lap, her squeals were infectious.”

“I’m sorry, Knight.” Mother conceded “I’m sorry if I sounded too judgmental. Ralph and I talked about trying for a child too, but he fears he’s too old and he won’t commit.”

“That’s fine, Mother. I would’ve taken this job for free, if just enough to cover the gas money for the jet.”

“No more big hunts like the old days?”

“We still do those occasionally, but something happened after the big bounty hunt and M12.”

“What did?”

“That Demon Larkham fucker, you’ll remember his IG88 guys and the battle in the sinking tanker. He was pissed we took his heads so he killed my financial benefactor.”

“Who was that, if I may ask?”

“That’s another story for another time. After that happened, Rufus and I sat down and had a  _ long _ talk. To see so much money go up in smoke for saving someone’s life had me asking myself ‘Was it all worth it?’”

“Shane- Scarecrow, he is so much more than my squad leader.” Mother said resolutely. “He is my best friend, a brother, and a good person at heart. You saw us fight on that cliff, I would die for him if it meant he would live another day. He _is_ worth it.”

That made Knight turn to face her.

“I would too, if I were in your boots.”

“You would?”

“I’ve spent so long spilling people’s blood for money and my own selfish need to feel superior, that I almost forgot what it was like to shed your blood for another. Scarecrow would go through hell for you, and I have no doubt he would for me as well. That is what motivated me to save him.”

 

Knight took a sip from his water canteen and began to resume his impromptu sermon. “Killing Brandeis felt good for a while, plus I didn’t need someone like him out for my head.”

“But it didn’t bring your family back.” Buck offered quietly, remembering what Shane had told him about his father.

“No, Book. No amount of ex-ICG shitheads I ice will ever bring Susan and Felicia back, and I miss them to bits. However, by taking this job, I hope to give others the chance to raise a family, and to let these girls live the dignified and meaningful lives they deserve. War isn’t only about taking lives, sometimes it’s about saving, and even improving them.”

Mother and Book were in awe of the infamous bounty hunter’s change of heart, and regarded him with a newfound sense of respect.

“I’m sorry if I went on a tangent there, I just-”

“No, Knight.” Mother proffered. “Don’t do that to yourself. Don’t you  _ ever _ beat yourself up for wanting to do the right thing.”

She looked him right in the eyes, into his very soul. “If it means anything to you, you are redeemed in my eyes. Not a heartless mercenary, but someone I consider to be as good and kind-hearted as the Scarecrow himself.”

“Seconded.” Book added.

“Thanks, guys. We’re going to take the girls and their babies to a local NGO called Rebirth, they’re working closely with DCI and UNICEF to rehabilitate child brides and laborers throughout the states affected by the Gulf Wars. Once they’ve been cleared of infectious and sexual diseases, they’ll be traced to their original families. If their families prove untraceable, they’ll be put up for adoption in developed countries to ensure they have a good quality of life. From there, they will all have their personal caretaker to correspond with their adoptive parents on the girls’ care until they hit 18, and 100% of school fees will be covered by UNICEF up to the Bachelor’s level.”

Knight looked contemplative for a moment, and then let a small smile creep onto his face.

“You and Ralph can adopt Christine if she gets the all-clear.”

Mother gasped audibly, and started to go unsteady in her legs. Just as she fell, Shane caught her from behind and fanned her vigorously. He, Rufus, and the combat medics they were working with had delivered the child.

“We uhhh… did the thing, boss.” Rufus sputtered.

“You should’ve seen the big guy holding the little boy, like he was holding a pile of solid gold bricks!” exclaimed a medic called Peterson.

“Jesus, Knight. Did you just try to woo her into your life?” Shane raved. “I don’t think she’s about to fall for you.”

“Actually, she’s falling for one of those little girls, and I mean that in the most innocent way possible.” Knight waggled his eyebrows. By the way, Scarecrow, we need to talk.”

 

_ Some time later… _

 

“Mission report, Captain.” the Operations Officer boomed. Shane didn’t so much as flinch. As far as he was concerned, this desk shunter was not worthy of the status of ‘Marine’.

“We investigated the reports of gunfire in that village. By the time we reached at 0845, there was nothing living in there, nothing bigger than a fly. We found only 7.62 cartridge casings at the site, so we concluded it was a tribal standoff that went sideways. Nothing out of the ordinary, sir.”

The officer sat back and examined some documents on his desk, and then resumed his hawk-eyed glare.

“Hmm you have a point, Captain. Tribal clashes are common in that province.” He paused to adjust his glasses. “But I have sat images showing an unmarked convoy leaving the general area you and your men were in, at approximately the same time. Surely they wouldn’t have passed through such a hostile area unmolested?”

The officer flipped the documents over to Shane and let him peruse them, watching him narrow his eyes.

“And then there’s this.”

Shane was passed a third picture which depicted a small but very familiar object: a black fighter jet with forward-swept wings.

“Now unless my copy of  _ Jane’s All The World Aircraft _ is mistaken, that is a prototype Russian fighter. Do you know what having  _ Russians _ in our AO means, Captain Schofield?” he snarled. “Why didn’t you call it in?”

Shane looked the officer in the eyes, refusing to be cowed. “We attempted to hail the convoy to stop, but they were leaving the area too quickly for us to follow. Sir, if we had any LAVs, we could have chased them, but I decided that since they did not appear armed and were not moving in the direction of our forces, they were not a threat and I forgot to note it down. As for the jet, none of my men reported seeing or hearing any sonic booms in the AO so with all due respect, sir, I doubt the veracity of this image.”

“Do not lie to me, Schofield. Was there or was there not a fucking Russian jet over your heads?”

“No sir, much less that particular model. If I had seen it, I would definitely have alerted air defense. Did they report any radar or heat signatures?”

“Not a one, but this model is stealth-equipped.”

_ You come into my house, you numbskull. _ “Sir, all fighters no matter how stealthy will  _ always _ leave a heat sig, including the F-22. Even on a hot day, a fighter’s exhaust will turn up on IR like a lighthouse, and none of our sensors detected any such emissions. There’s also the natural noise of the jet and likewise, we did not pick up any such noises, sir.”

The officer was fuming and came close to reaching out over his desk to grab the little weasel Schofield by his collar but simply fell back in his chair to prevent his own blood pressure from escalating.

“Very well, Captain. I will check again with my division and see what goes into the official report, but don’t think this will be the last you’ll hear from me about this.”

_ More empty threats _ , Shane mused.  _ No wonder you’ve only been a Major for 15 years. _ “Yes, sir. Will that be all?”

“Get out of my office.”

_ With pleasure. _

 

The officer was not to know that the Black Raven had features to mask both its radar and IR signatures. Or that several hundred kilometers away, a special group of very young Afghan children, mostly girls, were being attended to by the finest paediologists in the region. Thanks to Knight’s actions, they needn’t have to be treated like spoils of war. As for Knight and Rufus, “We’re going to help people, one bounty at a time.” Rufus had cheerfully put forth as the bounty hunters and Marines parted ways.

“It will be more than worth it.” Knight added.


End file.
